The present invention is generally directed to shredders and, more specifically, to a mechanism for interrupting shredder operation when capacity of its shredded material storage basket has been reached.
Conventional shredders have a bin for collection of shredded material, generally located below the shredder blades, to accumulate shredded material for future disposal. An area at the front of the bin may be lowered or transparent to allow a user to observe the level of shredded material, or the bin may be of wire mesh to allow a user to observe the level of the shredded material and judge when the bin must be emptied.
However, relying upon the judgement of the user to determine when the bin must be emptied can be problematic. In a situation where a shredder has multiple users, there is no requirement for a particular user to empty the shredder bin after it has reached its capacity, even if the user observes the shredder should be emptied to allow optimal operation. If the shredder continues to be operated when the shredded material exceeds the capacity of the bin, operation of the shredder can be impaired and the shredder may be damaged by continued use. If the shredder continues to deposit material into the bin after a reasonable capacity has been exceeded, shredded material may overflow into the shredder enclosure upon bin removal and require it to be cleaned before the bin can be reinserted. Spilled shredded material can also negatively impact appearance of the work area.
It may be advantageous to provide a shredder that provides a method for preventing shredder operation when the shredded material in the storage bin has reached a level where its accumulation will interfere with optimal operation of the shredder.